Now, he will look for an 8th title at Wimbledon, which extends his own shared record of seven titles here.

Most successful on grass, Federer holds a number of records at, and as a result of, his Wimbledon victories. He has yet to drop a set going into the semi-finals at Wimbledon, a tremendous feat in and of itself. The fact that he has done this 14 years after winning his first major and only a year on from a major recuperative break at 35-years-old is perhaps even more impressive.

Federer beat Milos Raonic – the Canadian ace who ousted him from Wimbledon in 2016 – in straight sets this week, proving well and truly that this was a drastically improved Federe,r a near unbeatable version of his previous self – as it is difficult for any opponent not named Rafael Nadal.

Berdych comes in after a couple of very hard-fought wins – including a four-set match against Jeremy Chardy in Round 1, and a tough five-setter against Dominic Thiem in Round 4. The Czech 11th seed also saw a lucky (for him, but unfortunate for his rival) break in the quarter-finals, with an injured Novak Djokovic withdrawing down 6-7 , 0-2 to Berdych. The Serbian former No. 1 revealed also that he has had a long-term shoulder injury preventing him from performing at his best – which made him a weakened opponent against the 11th seed.

Federer and Berdych have played one another a whopping 24 times on tour – and Federer leads that record with 75% wins – beating Berdych on 18 of those occasions. The two have already met twice this year, with Federer winning both times – once at the Australian Open, and following that at the hard-court ATP1000 Miami Masters tournament, which Federer would go on to win.

The two have met twice at Wimbledon, with Federer winning in straight sets in 2006 – and Berdych in four sets in 2010.

The last time Berdych beat Federer was in 2013 – on hard courts, with Federer taking a convincing first set before being edged out by Berdych in a tiebreak. The 35-year-old has faltered like this before – including this year at Round 1 of the grass-court Stuttgart Open, where he suffered a shock loss to Tommy Haas in Round 1.

But this is Wimbledon – hallowed grounds for the Swiss ace, and given Federer’s record at the venue – and against Berdych, it would be very unlikely given his fitness and form that he will lose.

Prediction: Roger Federer to win in straight sets

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